• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6985-6989
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• 2013

Background: This study aimed to examine out-of-pocket expenditure for cancer treatments of hospitalized patients and to analyze changing patterns over time. Materials and Methods: This study examined data of all cancer patients receiving inpatient care from two tertiary hospitals from January 2003 to December 2010. Medical expenditures per admission were calculated and classified into those covered and uncovered by the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) and co-payment. Results: The medical expenditure per admission increased slowly from 3,455 thousand Korean won (KRW) to 4,068 thousand KRW. While expenditures covered by the NHI have increased annually, co-payments have generally decreased. The out-of-pocket expenditure ratio, which means the proportion of uncovered expenditure and co-payment among total medical expenditure dropped sharply from 2005 to 2007 and was maintained at a similar level after 2007. Medical expenditures, NHI coverage, and the out-of-pocket expenditure ratio differed across cancer types. Conclusions: It is necessary to continually monitor the expenditure of uncovered services by the NHI, and to provide policies to reduce this economic burden. In addition, an individual approach considering cancer type-specific characteristics and medical utilization should be provided.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.55
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• pp.155-179
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• 2003

This paper compares two indicators, economic development and social condition, to find a better way to measure the level of social welfare development. The results show that social condition is more adequate indicator than economic development. The social condition has high correlation with the development of social welfare in all the 78 countries as well as in five groups of countries when the economic development is controlled. The comparison of two indicators reveals important findings. Among other things, the higher the level of social condition compared with economic development, the larger the social welfare expenditure. This tendency is particularly strong among the western European countries and former socialist countries. This result implies that the macro-level policy of social redistribution is also important for the development of social welfare in addition to micro-level policy of income redistribution. As we expected, the results show that the level of Korean social welfare development is very low. Considering our levels of economic development and social condition, predicted social welfare expenditure from regression model is at least 17% of GDP, but we are spending only 30% of this predicted expenditure. Another serious problem in Korean social welfare is unbalanced expenditure between social insurance and public assistance. On the basis of these results, this paper suggests three implications for social policy to improve Korean social welfare: First of all, the gap between predicted and actual expenditures should be closed to improve the minimum level of social welfare. Secondly, the level of social condition itself should be improved to increase the public awareness of social welfare. Finally, the wide difference in expenditure between universal and selective social welfare programs should also be removed to decrease the relative deprivation of the poor.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2014

Background: A need arises to efficiently control health expenditure for medical aid due to a sharp increase in medical aid expenditure. This study experimently analyzes the impact of physician behavior on medical use for medical aid beneficiaries using supplier induced demand (SID) theory. Methods: This study looks into analyze SID effect using expenditure factor analysis of medical aid for the years between 2003 and 2010 in comparison with health insurance. Moreover, this study analyzes the existence and scale of SID using econometrics modeling with panel data on 16 cities and provinces's health expenditure data for medical aid from 2003 1/4 to 2010 4/4. Results: This study finds that the growth rate of visit days per capita and treatment amount per visit days for medical aid is higher than health insurance. Furthermore, the result of econometrics modeling analysis shows the existence of SID in general hospital, hospital, clinic, oriental clinic. Conclusion: In order to efficiently control expenditure for medical aid, it is required to reinforce macro polices such as the introduction of 'target management' and micro policies such as the strengthen of management on medical institutes in the perspective of suppliers as well as regulations of demanders.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2009

Objectives : This study aimed to examine the association between public social expenditure(PSE) and suicides in the 27 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) from 1980 to 2003. Methods : The age-standardized suicide rates and their annual change(%) were obtained from the OECD Health Data 2007. As a measure of social protection, the PSE(% GDP) was used. The covariates included the annual divorce rate(/100,000 population), fertility rate(number of children/woman aged 15 to 49 years), GDP per capita(US$ PPP), male unemployment rate(%), life expectancy(years) and alcohol consumption(liter/capita) for each country, which were all obtained from the OECD Health Data 2007 and the OECD Social Indicators 2006. Using hierarchical linear models that included these covariates, the effects of PSE on suicides(Model 1) and the annual percent change (Model 2) were examined(Model 3). Also, sub-sample analyses were done for six countries that experienced political/economic transition. Results : We could not find significant effects of PSE on suicides(Model 1), but we observed significantly negative effects on the annual percent change for men and women(Model 2). Such findings were replicated in the sub-sample analysis, and moreover, the effect size was much larger(Model 3). Conclusions : Our finding suggests that social welfare protection can be a pivotal factor for suicide epidemiology, and especially in countries experiencing a social crisis or transition.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.357-368
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• 2013

This research explores the efficiency of social welfare expenditure in Korea by analyzing marginal productivity, scale economies, and elasticity of substitution that could be obtainable from a production function. By virtue of VES production function, such productive indicators are easily identified. If once the efficiency is revealed in the production process, it brings to a positive impact to increase the level of income. Empirical evidences are shown that the public expenditure is operated systematically in comparing with the private one. This is mainly due to the fact that the system of the public sector is well-established. It implies that an operational system for the private sector ought to be built up in a short period of time. Otherwise, increasing in expenditure by a private sector would not be helpful to improve efficiency in the production side. Accordingly, level of income.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.50-67
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• 2007

This study investigated income elasticity of household health expenditures and differences by income level from 1998 through 2003. Data from Korean Labor and Income Panel Study was used for empirical analyses. To estimate the income effects on health expenditure, the two-part model was employed: a logistic regression for any health expenditure-first part-and a Ordinary Least Square regression for health expenditure conditional on any spending-second part. To estimate income elasticity, both health expenditure and income were log transformed in the second part. In addition, the random effects(RE) model was used for a longitudinal panel which was continuously followed from 1998 through 2003 to estimate income effects on health expenditures controlling for within and between unobservable household characteristics. Furthermore, difference in income effects on health expenditure across income level was investigated. Although income slightly increased odds of any health expenditure, there was not no table differences across income level. Income significantly increased health expenditures during study period(overall income elasticity: about 0.2) and the highest 20% income group presented higher income elasticity than the lowest 20% income group.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.117-144
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• 2008

This is a timeseries study on the riving forces behind the changes of Korean welfare state. There are a few previous studies on the determinants of korean welfare state. These previous studies have some limitations in terms of reliability of the data source and validity of the statistical method used. Using the Comparative Social Policy Data-set(CSPD), we try to overcome the limitation of these previous studies. And adapting the time series regression, we examine the hypotheses about the changes of korean welfare state. In this study, four dependent variables are examined: the ratio of public social welfare expenditure to the GDP(WELGDP), the ratio of public social welfare expenditure to the government budget(WELGOV), the ratio of social expenditure to the GDP(SOCX), social welfare expenditure per capita. And independent variables were selected based on the theoretical background on the changes of welfare state. The results of this study as follows: First, the variables based on structural functionalism (industrialization) are the major driving forces behind the changes of korean welfare state since 1960s. Second, the effect of unemployment variable may be reasonably interpreted as reflecting the residual characteristics of korean welfare state. Third, the politics of the left based on power resource theory should be restrictedly interpreted. Ultimately, korean welfare state is still at rudimentary stage where the theory of industrialization is well applied as a driving forces behind the changes of welfare state.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.99-118
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• 2018

This study examines household expenditure patterns for single-parent families to better understand the decision-making process and to consider the appropriateness of the decisions on monetary allocation. This study investigates the household expenditure patterns and the determinants of expenditure patterns for single-father families as compared to those for single-mother families. A series of analyses of the data, which was gathered from the 2015 Single-parent Family Survey on household expenditures, were conducted. The results show that there are differences in the household expenditure volumes and patterns between single-father families and single-mother families. Differences in the categories of expenditure and variations in the share that was allocated for each expenditure category in single-father families as compared to in single-mother families were both statistically significant. Disparities were found in seven categories of household expenditure between single-father families and single-mother families. The amount allocated from total expenditures for each expenditure category was also significantly different between single-father families and single-mother families in regards to clothing, home equipment, housing, water/light/heat costs, transportation, and telecommunication. The determinants of the total household expenditure for single-parent families were age, level of education, number of family members, public transfer, household income, assets, and debt.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.559-573
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to investigate how social welfare expenditure affects to economic growth in Northern European countries, and such implication might be compared with Korean episode. ARDL cointegration model is employed for emplrical analysis. The model is usefully utilized to analyze short-run and long-run relationships of the variables in general. The result suggests that private welfare expenditure is effective in Korea and Finland even though the magnitude of effectiveness is quite a small scale. On the other hand, public welfare expenditure is effective in Denmark and Norway. However, none of social welfare expenditures affects in economic growth in Sweden. And, therefore, it could be concluded that although social welfare expenditures contribute to improve income inequality, these hardly support income-led growth strategy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.423-435
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• 2010

Objectives: The low benefit coverage rate of South Korea's health security system has been continually pointed out. A low benefit coverage rate inevitably causes catastrophic health expenditure, which can be the cause of the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty. This study was conducted to ascertain the effect of catastrophic health expenditure on the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty in South Korea. Methods: To determine the degree of social mobility, this study was conducted among the 6311 households that participated in the South Korea Welfare Panel Study in both 2006 and 2008. The effect of catastrophic health expenditure on the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty in South Korea was assessed via multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The poverty rate in South Korea was 21.6% in 2006 and 20.0% in 2008. 25.1 - 7.3% of the households are facing catastrophic health expenditure. Catastrophic health expenditure was found to affect the transition to poverty even after adjusting for the characteristics of the household and the head of the household, at the threshold of 28% or above. Conclusions: 25.1% of the households in this study were found to be currently facing catastrophic health expenditure, and it was determined that catastrophic health expenditure is a cause of transition to poverty. This result shows that South Korea's health security system is not an effective social safety net. As such, to prevent catastrophic health expenditure and transition to poverty, the benefit coverage of South Korea's health security system needs to the strengthened.